Canadian dad goes to jail when daughter draws picture of gun

Boys draw pictures of guns all the time, but that's not the case with girls. Should we be alarmed when a little girl draws an image of a gun? (Shutterstock / ZouZou)

When a Canadian father picked up his 4-year-old daughter at Forest Hill Public School in Kitchener, Ontario, last week, he was was greeted by three police officers who hand-cuffed him, according to The Record.

Jessie Sansone was shocked. What had he done? He had no idea.

The police told Sansone that he was being arrested for possession of a firearm, threw him in the back of a cruiser and hauled him to jail where he was locked up.

Turns out his daughter drew a picture of a man holding a gun in class. When teachers asked about the image, the little girl said, “That’s my daddy’s. He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters.”

One thing led to another. A concerned teacher phoned child services and told them about the drawing. Child services contacted the police who arrested Sansone based on his daughter’s illustration.

While Sansone was locked up, the police visited the family home where his pregnant wife and three children were waiting for him. They told Sansone’s wife, Stephanie Squires, to go to the station for questioning, and brought the children to child services.

Meanwhile Sansone was being strip-searched back at the jail.

Several hours later a detective arrived at the jail and told Sansone about the illustration. He apologized for what happened and sent Sansone home—but he also asked him to sign a paper permitting the police department to search his home.

Officers went through every drawer and closet and found nothing—except a toy gun that shoots plastic pellets.

Now the community is questioning how the situation was handled. Did the authorities overreact?

The school stands behind their decision to contact child services and the police believe they reacted appropriately. Waterloo Regional Police Inspector Kevin Thaler told The Record that they interviewed students at the school and some implied that the Sansone’s keep a gun in their home.

What’s more, Sansone has a criminal record. He was convicted five years ago of assault and attempted burglary. His record has been clean ever since and he’s now a school counselor and motivational speaker. The police department hasn’t revealed whether this played a part in their decision to arrest Sansone.

On the other hand, Sansone and his wife feel violated. “I just think they blew it out of proportion,’’ Squires told The Record. “It was for absolutely nothing. They searched our house upside down and found nothing. They had the assumption he owned a firearm.

“The way everything happened was completely unnecessary, especially since we know the school very well. I don’t understand how they came to that conclusion from a four-year-old’s drawing.’’

I find this story mind-boggling. While I respect the authorities’ decision to error on the safe side, I’m surprised that a teacher called child services in the first place. It’s not unusual for children to draw pictures of guns. I know. I have a 7-year-old son. Just the other day he came home from school with a picture of two men holding guns and shooting one another. I know that the teacher didn’t think twice when she saw the image because that’s what little boys draw.

But does my daughter draw guns? No. Never. I wonder how gender-stereotypes played into this situation. Was the teacher surprised to see the illustration of a gun drawn by a little girl?

What do you think? Did authorities act appropriately? Should they have arrested Sansone?